“Call for Candidates” Now Open for Sheridan School Board Elections; Petitions Due Sept. 1

Candidates interested in running for one of five open seats on the Sheridan Board of Education in November may pick up petitions at the school district offices, 4150 S. Hazel Ct.

Superintendent Michael Clough reviewed the petition process last night for the Sheridan Board of Education at its regular meeting. Candidates running for Districts A, C, and E will serve four-year terms. Candidates running for B and D will serve two-year terms.

All petitions must be signed by registered voters and candidates are required to have 50 valid signatures on the petition form in order to be certified for the ballot. Superintendent Clough said the number one reason that signatures are declared invalid is because they are not those of registered voters.

Eligible candidates are only those who have lived in Sheridan for the past 12 months and for at least as long within the specific district which they seek to represent.

Polly Plancarte, who serves as both secretary to the board and executive assistant to Superintendent Clough, has been named by the board as the designated election official. She is available to answer questions about the process and will also verify all the returned petitions, which are due by Friday, Sept. 1. However, candidates are strongly encouraged to turn their petitions in well before the deadline to allow time for the process to certify the signatures.

Groundwork Denver

The board heard a presentation last night from students at Sheridan High School who are working with Groundwork Denver, an organization working to improve the health and safety of the surrounding community. In particular, the students have been focused on cleaning up Bear Creek and studying its water quality. The group has picked up trash, removed non-native vspecies from the waterway and sampled the water for e-coli. Based on their analysis, students strongly advised against drinking the water directly from Bear Creek.

Opening Session

Superintendent Clough said district staff will soon receive a survey seeking feedback about Opening Session, an event held July 31 to kick off the school year. Superintendent Clough also thanked everyone who helped pull the event together.

School Start

The opening of schools this year was the “smoothest start ever,” said Superintendent Clough. He bases that assessment, he said, on the number of times his phone rings with complaints.

Teacher Shortage

An English teacher and a mathematics teacher still need to be hired at Sheridan High School, said Superintendent Clough, who also cautioned that the statewide teacher shortage is “alive and well.” He thanked neighboring Littleton and Englewood school districts for sharing their applicant pool.

Community Barbecue

The traditional community-wide barbecue, sponsored by Sheridan School District 2 and the Sheridan Educators Association, will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 16 at Sheridan High school.

Daily Leave Policy

Superintendent Clough said the administration is working to more consistently apply the daily leave policy for teachers and staff. In particular, Superintendent Clough said school principals will look at the five eligible reasons for daily leave and apportioning how many can be used within each category. He said he hopes that ambiguity is being cleared up. “We need our kids here and we need our staff here and we need a quality teacher in that room every possible day,” he said.

Superintendent Clough said in particular that when a teacher is absent one in five absences goes unfilled—due to a lack of substitutes. That leads to a lost day of learning, he said.

On a related note, Superintendent Clough told the board that an ongoing analysis regarding the reasons that teachers leave Sheridan schools found that 21 of the 47 employees who left last year were hired by neighboring school districts.

Consent Agenda

All consent agenda items were approved.

About Sheridan School District 2

Located southwest of Denver, Sheridan School District 2 seeks high-level post-secondary options for all students through continuous improvement of quality instruction. More: www.ssd2.org

##

Sheridan School District NO.24150 South Hazel Court Englewood, Colorado 80110